In an effort to expedite the recovery process for businesses damaged by Tropical Storm Debby, Gov. Rick Scott activated Florida’s Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program. The program will provide emergency, short-term, interest-free loans to small businesses in 36 eligible counties to assist in reestablishing business during the interim period before other aid and insurance claims are processed.

By Patty RoeschCorrespondent
Tunes from Bob Marley’s “I wanna jamming with you” drift along the breeze and through the door of Pirate Isle, the new spice and sauce store on Cedar Key.
“We jammin’…”
Inspired by the Jamaican heritage of her family, Carol A. Merritt would visit Jamaica with her mother in the ‘8’s and fell in love with the culture. Soon after, she began making Caribbean jerk seasonings only to expand from there.

Debbie Dye has been collecting Cedar Key ghost stories for four years. She was inspired to do the tours by a haint mistress and retired history teacher in Virginia. According to UrbanDictionary.com, “haint” is a Southern colloquialism for a ghost, apparition or lost soul.

Customer service is so important to each and every business. If the service is great, your customers will keep coming back. If it is poor, they simply will not.

One important thing to remember is that the quality of the customer service you provide is not judged by you or your company. It is entirely about the customer’s perception. You must do everything in your power to ensure that the service rendered matches up with what the customer desires.

Preliminary estimates of visitors to Florida, from April to June, released by VISIT FLORIDA®, show an increase of 6.9 percent from the same period in 2010. In addition, 5.6 million pleasure trips were taken by Florida residents in-state during the second quarter.